French Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas collectivity of France, in Polynesia. UN Tourism counted 300,000 international arrivals there in 2019, rarer than 84% of the 199 places with figures, so its stamp in Globestamp is printed in Prism.
- International arrivals
- 300,000in 2019, UN Tourism
- Rank by visitors
- 168th of 199most visited first
- Stamp finish
- Prismrarer than 84%
- Area
- 3,348 km² (1,292 sq mi)
- Population
- 279,000Natural Earth estimate
- Regions
- 5in Globestamp’s regions layer
- Airports
- 38with scheduled flights
Does French Polynesia count as a country?
It depends on the list. French Polynesia is an overseas collectivity of France, so it is not one of the UN’s 193 members, but Globestamp’s list of 250 countries and territories counts it on its own. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “French Polynesia (Gambier, Tahiti, Tuamotu)”.
| List | Counts French Polynesia? |
|---|---|
| UN member states (193) | No |
| Globestamp’s countries and territories (250) | Yes |
| Travelers’ Century Club (330) | Yes: French Polynesia (Gambier, Tahiti, Tuamotu), Austral Islands, Marquesas Islands |
| European Union | No |
| Schengen area | No |
French Polynesia belongs to France, but travelers usually count it on its own, because it has its own entry rules, its own flag or its own place on the map. Other places in the same family: French Guiana, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Réunion and Saint Barthélemy.
The French Polynesia stamp
Every country in Globestamp has its own stamp, drawn after a real entry stamp. Its finish shows how few travelers get there. French Polynesia’s is Prism: the full spectrum with glints, the finish for places with 50,000 to 500,000 visitors a year. With 300,000 international arrivals in 2019, French Polynesia is rarer than 84% of the 199 places with figures. See every stamp on the stamp wall, or the rarest on the least-visited countries.
What counts as a visit to French Polynesia
The common rule among travelers is that you set foot there: an airport layover usually doesn’t count, and a port where you went ashore does. Globestamp counts French Polynesia when one of your photos was taken on its ground, or just off its coast; a photo taken from a plane never counts. Photos only at an airport make a transit stamp in lighter ink, counted only if you count layovers. Read more in how to count the countries you’ve visited.
Events in French Polynesia
Total solar eclipses over French Polynesia that the app knows: 11 July 2010. A photo inside the path of totality that day ticks “Watch a total eclipse”.
Largest cities
| City | People (urban area) |
|---|---|
| Papeete | 131,695 |
Airports
French Polynesia has 38 airports with scheduled flights, 1 of them large. Each is a dot on Globestamp’s airports layer, and every flight you log adds to how far you’ve flown (try the flight distance calculator).
5 regions to fill in
Globestamp goes deeper than countries: its regions layer splits French Polynesia into 5 regions (Natural Earth’s first-level divisions), and each one fills in when a photo was taken there.
All 5
Austral Islands · Leeward Islands · Marquesas Islands · Tuamotu Archipelago · Windward Islands
Questions people ask
Is French Polynesia a country?
It depends on the list. French Polynesia is an overseas collectivity of France, so it is not one of the UN’s 193 members, but Globestamp’s list of 250 countries and territories counts it on its own. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “French Polynesia (Gambier, Tahiti, Tuamotu)”.
How many tourists visit French Polynesia a year?
UN Tourism (via the World Bank) counted 300,000 international arrivals in French Polynesia in 2019, the 168th most of the 199 places with figures. Countries count arrivals in different ways (some include day-trippers and cruise passengers), so treat it as a rough rank rather than an exact number of tourists.
How rare is a French Polynesia stamp in Globestamp?
It is printed in Prism, the finish for places with 50,000 to 500,000 visitors a year, rarer than 84% of the places with figures. The fewer travelers a place receives, the rarer its finish, from plain Ink to Mythic.
Does French Polynesia count for the Travelers’ Century Club?
Yes, and more than once: the Travelers’ Century Club lists French Polynesia (Gambier, Tahiti, Tuamotu), and counts Austral Islands, Marquesas Islands as separate destinations. The club’s list has 330 destinations.
Places as rare as French Polynesia
Near French Polynesia
Sources
- Countries, cities and regions: Natural Earth 10m admin-0 (public domain); lists as of October 2026.
- Visitors: UN Tourism via the World Bank, ST.INT.ARVL (International tourism, number of arrivals), CC BY 4.0, data updated 2026-10-08. Each country's latest year before 2020. Countries count visitors differently; use as a rough rank.
- World Heritage Sites, parks, landmarks and the bucket-list places: Wikidata (CC0), as compiled in the app, October 2026.
- Airports: OurAirports (public domain), airports with scheduled service.
- Travelers’ Century Club: the club’s list of 330 destinations, as of January 2022.